Mr. World Peace: I Didn't Tell Wife About Name Swap

6/24/2011 2:45 PM PDT

Mr. World Peace: I Didn't Tell Wife About Name Swap

Ron Artest -- AKA Mr. Metta World Peace -- just went on "TMZ Live" ... and said he kept his name-change plans so secretive ... his OWN WIFE HAD NO IDEA ... until TMZ broke the story.

Metta claims he's been toying with the idea of changing his name for a while ... and was thiiiiiiiis close to settling on Mr. One Love ... but ultimately went with Metta World Peace because it would have a bigger global impact.